MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian Airbus carrying more than 230 people was forced to land in a cornfield outside Moscow on Thursday after being attacked by a swarm of seagulls, officials said.
The Airbus A321 of the Ural A321, carrying 226 passengers and seven crew, took off from Moscow's Zukovsky airport to Simferopol in the Crimea region annexed by Russia in 2014, the Rosaviatia Air Transport Agency reported.
The birds attacked the plane shortly after take-off from Moscow, causing turbulence in the engine, and the crew decided to land immediately.
The agency said the plane landed in a corn field, one kilometer from the runway, as the speed of landing was falling and its engines were not working.
The Russian authorities evacuated passengers by air-blown stairs, some were taken to hospital and the rest went to the airport.
The Health Ministry said 23 people, including nine children, had been hospitalized, but there were no serious injuries among those on board.